Rising Bird Fellows Commitments and Policies

Rising Bird Fellows are required to participate in the Rising Bird Fellows Canvas course and complete career development touchpoints designed to help the student develop their professional competencies and reflect on their experience. Below are some examples of career development touchpoints students will complete:

• pre- and post-internship surveys to help students assess career readiness and track growth
• learning goals established in collaboration with their supervisor
• reflections on their internship experience and progress towards learning goals at the midpoint and end of the internship
• documented efforts to build their professional network
• pieces articulating the value of their experience

Students who fail to complete the required number of touchpoints will be ineligible to apply for Rising Bird Fellows stipends for the following four quarters.

In addition to learning touchpoints, students receiving a stipend will commit to:

• completing the work hours for the student’s unpaid opportunity and meeting the expectations outlined by their supervisor or employer, including professional conduct and completion of set deliverables
• ensuring and attesting to the completion by their supervisor of the Employer Feedback Survey provided by Rising Bird Fellows at the end of their opportunity
• engaging with their Rising Bird Fellows cohort, including online discussions and any scheduled in-person meet-up during the academic year

Students traveling internationally will also be required to complete the International Academy Canvas course.

CareerEd reserves the right to rescind funding at any given point and time and refuse future access to funding should they be apprised of any policy violations, including failure to complete the opportunity as outlined in their Rising Bird Fellows application.

Full-Time Summer Opportunities

A goal of the Rising Bird Fellows program is to help students explore career opportunities outside of the Stanford environment and begin to gain experience and skills while they build their professional network. To support these goals of the Rising Bird Fellows program, Rising Bird Fellows should not work more than 50 total hours per week across all of their experiential learning opportunities during Summer Quarter. 

Rising Bird Fellows are not permitted to engage in another full-time internship, job, or volunteer opportunity (whether funded by Stanford or otherwise) during the weeks of their Rising Bird Fellows opportunity. Rising Bird Fellows defines “full-time” as 35 hours per week. Examples of full-time opportunities include full-time paid positions, other Stanford fellowships and Stanford-sponsored internships, departmental or faculty grant-support research positions, Beagle II, and the Chappell Lougee Scholarship. 

Part-Time Opportunities

Students may work at an additional part-time internship, job, or volunteer position, provided that it does not conflict with or prevent them from completing their Rising Bird Fellows opportunity or their Stanford courses, and that they do not exceed 50 total hours across all experiential learning opportunities during Summer Quarter.

• Stipend amounts during Winter and Spring Quarter range from $282 to $2,815 based upon the number of hours per week and total weeks the student will participate in their opportunity.
• Stipend amounts during the summer range from $282 to $7,500 based upon the number of hours per week and total weeks the student will participate in their opportunity.
  • Students whose opportunities take place in the highest cost-of-living cities during Summer Quarter may also be eligible for an additional stipend of $500 or $1000.

Rising Bird Fellows recommends that students work no more than 15 hours per week during the academic year and 40 hours per week during the Summer. Although students may work in excess of these recommendations, Rising Bird Fellows has the following limits on funding:

• Winter and Spring Quarter: Rising Bird Fellows will only provide funding for between 5 and 15 hours of work per week during the ten-week academic quarter. This 15-hour maximum complies with the recommendations in the Stanford Administrative Guide.
  • Stipends are not provided for opportunities in which the student works fewer than 5 hours per week or for opportunities that last less than 3 weeks.
  • Hours dedicated to the opportunity before or after the academic quarter are not considered during stipend calculations.
• Stipends, prizes, or awards offered to students who are receiving other forms of financial aid for any purpose are a form of financial assistance and may require adjustment to scholarship eligibility, and/or adjustment to the student’s overall cost of attendance. Rising Bird Fellows stipends can only be offered to financial aid recipients during Winter and Spring Quarter if they have Student Responsibility remaining. (Learn more about the Stanford Student Stipend Policy.)
  • If an applicant’s remaining Student Responsibility is less than the value of the stipend the student could receive through Rising Bird Fellows, the stipend will be reduced to the value of the student’s remaining Student Responsibility
  • A student can check their most recent Financial Aid Notification in Axess to confirm their eligibility prior to applying.
• Students can receive a maximum total of $10,000 of funding from Stanford Career Education during their time as a Stanford student
  • Previous Fellows who have not met their commitments to the program will not be considered for future stipends for at least one full year

Rising Bird Fellows are expected to inform the Rising Bird Fellows team of any changes in the status of their opportunity. These include major changes to the student’s responsibilities, a new supervisor, or a reduction or increase in hours. Although most changes in a student’s internship do not require additional action, Rising Bird Fellows will provide instruction on any necessary steps a student would need to take in response to changes. Significant changes to a student’s opportunity may result in their stipend being reduced or rescinded. 

Students receiving a stipend must receive written permission from Rising Bird Fellows staff before accepting any additional funding for their opportunity from Stanford, their employer, or any other source.

Rising Bird Fellows stipends cannot be applied to a different opportunity than the one listed on your application. Your Rising Bird Fellows stipend is contingent on the eligibility of your opportunity and supervisor, and your supervisor agrees to the requirements of their participation when submitting the Employer Agreement.

Violations of the Rising Bird Fellows stipend program policies are also violations of the Fundamental Standard and may be referred to the Office of Community Standards. If you fail to abide by the policies set forth by this program; Stanford Career Education; and/or Stanford University, you may not be eligible for future Stanford Career Education funding opportunities and programs. Stanford Career Education reserves the right to rescind funding at any given point and time should we be apprised of any policy violations as outlined above, including failure to complete the opportunity as outlined in the Employer Agreement Form.